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Duncan's Dubious Drivel


drmalesis
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Oh my, it seems I've succumbed to the drivelling habit (tissues at the ready).

But no complaints, rants or out pourings right now except that once again for what seems like the millionth time, the wireless link on my Weather Station PC in the observatory has given up the ghost. I'm so annoyed about this I don't even trust myself to go and fix it right now in case I'm tempted to give the computer a damn good kicking to teach it a lesson. Guess I'll wait till the morning when I'm a little calmer. This really is making a hell of a mess with this years stats.

Oh well, time for bed said Zebedee - ZZZZZzzzzzzz.......

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Is that the link between weather station and pc or between pc and router?

I had a period where I was losing contact with my weather station sensors and the indoor control panel so now I try to keep then in line of sight and orientated towards each other as much as possible. However, it sounds to me like you mean the wireless link from your pc back to the router, especially if you're considering giving the pc a good old kicking. Would be a bit harsh on the weather station if it wasn't partly at fault!

Is there a great distance between router and weather station pc? Are there obstructions in the way? Is it an old pc or wireless adaptor? Did you sleep well last night...?

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Hi Mick,

It's the link between the PC and the router - all Wireless N and a clean line of sight over a distance of about 25 metres giving a reasonable 55% signal strength. The problem seems to be with the Netgear wireless adaptor software. It runs for a day or two and then just crashes - sometimes taking the whole PC down with it.

I used to use Home Plugs (Ethernet over mains cables) but for some reason after about 12 months the same thing started happening with them. I still use Home Plugs exclusively in the house as Wireless Signals don't make the trip through 2ft solid stone walls.

With both forms of network failing in a similar fashion, I suspect the PC and or Operating System. I do have a spare PC and I'm going to set that up on my next day off (Friday) and see how we get on.

Anyway, the reboot has got the system back up (at least for now)...

Duncan

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I had the same kind of problem in Selby when I set up a spare pc in the garden shed to run the weather cam. Although close to the house it wasn't in line of sight and I could never get a reasonable strength signal. I lost the link so many times that in the end I gave up and moved the camera indoors. But that wasn't the end of my problems. The spare pc struggled to process the weather cam pics and send them to my main pc for uploading along with all the weather data. I had to keep the camera at low resolution to prevent it crashing. Which reminds me - I have yet to set my weather camera up again.

My only experience with Ethernet over the mains is through the BT Vision box and it seems to cope well enough with that.

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Not a good day today... :cry:

I woke up full of beans and itching to get stuck in and lay some of the pre-painted boards for the track bed on the layout. I duly uncovered the structure which had been under a tarpaulin to protect it from the rain only to find a growth of a greeny coloured fungus stuck to the top of the support rails. At first I thought that the tarpaulin had become stuck to the top of the rails for some reason, but after wiping it off, the full impact of the problem became obvious.

It was actually a fungal growth that had taken hold not only on the top edge of the support rails, but in places on the side of the rails as well. Even worse, where the fungus had grown on the top edge, the plywood had started to de-laminate. and was very wet. Before I go any further let me say that all of the support rails were treated in exactly the same way. I.E They were all given a double coat of bitument paint thinned 5 parts paint to 1 part white spirit, followed by a further two coats of neat bitument paint. At all stages particular attention was given to the cut edges.

To say I was a little stunned is an understatement. The tarpaulin was brand new and completely waterproof, so where had this moisture got in ? After sitting down and thinking for a few minutes and doing my best not to scream, kick the dog, kick Ros or cry, I came to the conclusion that the moisture was condensation. Nothing more nothing less. I had covered the completed work with two tarpaulins to ensure that the cut edges of the rails got the maximum protection before the track bed was laid. The rails under the first length of tarpaulin were fine. It was only the rails under the second, where they were closer to the ground that were affected. Because the tarpaulin reached the ground on the lower section, they were getting no airflow to keep the condensation at bay. The first section, being about 2 feet of the ground were fine because the tarpaulin was just sat on top and didn't reach the ground on the sides.

Strangely enough, the support rails on the first curve had no cover at all and were in perfect condition. However, given that condensation was trapped under the tarpaulin, and given the amount of protection I have given the ply, I'm extremely upset that the ply itself had started to de-laminate. A closer look at the ply where is had started to de-laminate also showed that the bitument paint had also managed to creep between the laminates. I would have expected the thinned paint to soak into the wood yes, but to actually creep between the laminates - NO :!:

Although the 18mm ply looked fine on its exposed edges when bought, they did exhibit several voids when the 200mm strips were cut. Nothing major, but definately places where water could collect if not sealed and protected by the track boards - hence the desire to cover them with the tarpaulin until the track boards were laid. Obviously these sheets of ply are of such a poor quality, that even the supposedly Water and Boilproof (WBP)glue used to bond the laminates together has failed. In fact I've just had a look at the label stuck on a couple of pieces I have left - and guess what, they were manufactured in China - cheap imported foreign CRAP... :evil:

Anyway, I went ahead and attached the painted trackboards onto the surviving rails (about 7.2 metres in length) and have left it all uncovered. I'm going to wait and see how it copes with the weather before I go any further. So for the time being at least, there won't be any further progress until the concept is proven.

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Sorry to hear about the ply issues.

I too am having some issues with my ply. Very mild issues but issues none the less. When I found some of my ply it was painted with black gloss paint. I assumed that it would be perfect for sealing but no. the hot sun here has cracked the wood and the paint has split. I could remove all my track and repaint my surface with grey masonry paint. Or I can remove the track and put a layer of pink foam on it for later carving. I could also put felt down. I'm also thinking i may just start putting on layers of bonded scenery with some kind of water proof glue. The long term goal is to have ground cover all over the layout.

You might want to coat the edges where the water is creeping in with some really thick varnish like they use on bar tops.

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traingeekboy said:

You might want to coat the edges where the water is creeping in with some really thick varnish like they use on bar tops.

Hi Griff,

The bitument paint is already pretty thick, but I think the poor quality of the plywood is the main culprit. As I said, there is a large section where I used 6mm ply from B & Q (a DIY store about 50 miles away in Shrewsbury) that has remained exposed and has had no problems with the rain despite being splattered with mud. It also didn't have any voids on the cut edges due to incomplete laminates being used in the manufacturing process.

It's all going to have to spend time exposed to the elements eventually, so if it can't last the one winter, I'll have to have a rethink... :(

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After the disaster of the garden railway today, I decided to take another look at the PC in the observatory running the weather station. As my current AV software runs out in February, I decided to use the BT offering that is included with my broadband package. This software (McAffee) suffers from the same issue that the previous AVG package had - in that it won't allow the two computers to communicate with or even "ping" each other when using the built in ethernet adpator on the observatory PC via a HomePlug.

Wireless works fine, except when its decides to pack up every now and again, but HomePlug no... :?:

McAffee has a usefull network mapping tool built in that reports all the devices it can see, their IP addresses and their trusted status etc. For some reason the McAffee network tool on the observatory PC is reporting the IP address of "My Computer" in reverse (i.e 78.1.168.192), and is showing the real IP address as a remote PC with the address of 192.168.1.78. If I disable the Local Network Connection and enable the Wireless, then everything resolves correctly and the two computers speak again. Very odd... :?

Time to rebuild methinks - something I was going to to do tomorrow anyway...

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Hi Duncan

Sorry to hear about your day - sounds like it hasn't been a good 'un.

I can see from your Minffordd Observatory website that there's been no updates since this afternoon so I guess you've been busy with the pc. Hope you've managed to sort something out. Wish I could be of some help regarding the IP address problems but I have absolutely no idea why you should be seeing the IP in reverse. I'm with BT too and also use their version of McAfee but I'm about as much use here as a BT phone bill.

Must be soul destroying to discover the problems outdoors with the plywood after all the work you've done. It must be the poor quality of the laminations as you suspect for it to go that quickly. After your application of bitumen it makes me wonder whether the sheets contained some moisture before you even started.

I started the recent thread on suitable types of plywood for the track base because of my concerns about constructing the base close to the ground. I honestly didn't envision the problems with yours! Now I'm beginning to wonder whether I should resort to constructing the low level section in masonry. I understand that the condensation problem was exacerbated due to the tarpaulin cover so perhaps I shouldn't worry too much but it's certainly got me thinking.

I really do hope that the trackboards and the surviving rails fare better. I would hate for this setback to discourage you from going further.

Here's hoping that tomorrow is a much better day. For what it's worth, in my experience after such a setback it usually is so do stay positive.

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After rebuilding 3 PC's I've finally got to the point where I have a working weather station PC and a general daily use PC up and running - hence my ability to post this message... :lol:

Rebuilding the observatory PC has now allowed me to go back to the more reliable ethernet over mains "HomePlug" solution and ditch the un-reliable wireless solution.

The only remaining task is to create the daily videos and get them uploaded to the website - something to do a little later as I've had my fill of PC's just lately...

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Went back over to Birmingham on Monday to see a concert at the Symphony Hall. I'm a huge music fan of all types - modern, traditional jazz, classical etc., but I'm also a sucker for musicals like Oklahoma, Calamity Jane etc. All films I watched as a kid and still enjoy today. Surprisingly, the last 3 BBC Proms series have included the John Wilson orchestra covering music from RKO, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Rogers and Hammerstein and other great musicals.

As soon as the tickets went on sale at the Symphony hall I had to go and see him live. What a night - great music played with a skill and enthusiasm that gets you smiling from the word go. Something you rarely see in some live music concerts these days. If you like this kind of music, and you get the opportunity to go see them - do it you won't regret it...

Checkout http://www.johnwilsonorchestra.com concert for dates...

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  • 4 weeks later...

I work every christmas so it doesn't worry me. Over here the 25th,26th, and 27th are public holidays. The 27th is the public holiday for christmas day as christmas day falls on the Sunday and 1st and 2nd of January are public holidays and the 2nd is a public holiday because new years day falls on the Sunday. I also work new years eve and day.

Roy. :)

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cleanerg6e said:

Over here the 25th,26th, and 27th are public holidays. The 27th is the public holiday for christmas day as christmas day falls on the Sunday and 1st and 2nd of January are public holidays and the 2nd is a public holiday because new years day falls on the Sunday.

It's the same here this year with the public holidays.

I work in IT for a well known retailer in the UK. However, like most retail businesses we work every day of the year except Easter Sunday and Christmas day. After nearly 20 years of it, it's beginning to get a little tedious not being able to enjoy the holiday properly with friends and family. Like yourself it never used to bother me, but as I get older I seem to resent it more every year. :(

Before I moved into IT I used to work in a milk bottling plant for Unigate Dairies. We worked 365 days a year and unless it was your rota'd day off we worked Christmas day from 05:00 until 09:00 in the morning. I used to love getting back home just as other people were getting up... :lol

Duncan

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Despite being back at work I'm feeling a little more upbeat. The food overload has worn off and I'm beginning to get back into the swing. Just the two of us in work today and very few phone calls, so I've time on my hands to fantasise about what to buy for the railway next.

I've had enough cash contributions this Christmas to buy another 4 Castle Cement bogie hoppers and by this time next week I'll have 8 to play with. Although I've complained about being back at work, it does have some compensations. With the extra cash I'll get for working on the 26th & 27th December and the 2nd January I'll not only be able to indulge in a little retail therapy, but I'll have extra lieu hours to bank for holidays as well...

Hmmm - now what shall I buy next, and when shall I book some holiday to play with it...:D

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I have noticed that you have used plywood for your outside permanent way. If you take a look at the GGR, the first phase build of the permanant way was made using 6 x 1 inch timber that was originally the roof trusses from somebody else's house. Phase 2 build was done using old and no longer required pallets, but as these have warped considerably I am going back to the 6 x 1 inch timber again and making sure that its tanalised and for outside use. Considering that phase 1 build has been outside since 2005/6 its doing pretty well.

Ian

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grockle said:

I have noticed that you have used plywood for your outside permanent way. If you take a look at the GGR, the first phase build of the permanant way was made using 6 x 1 inch timber that was originally the roof trusses from somebody else's house. Phase 2 build was done using old and no longer required pallets, but as these have warped considerably I am going back to the 6 x 1 inch timber again and making sure that its tanalised and for outside use. Considering that phase 1 build has been outside since 2005/6 its doing pretty well.

 

oh another scrapper! I highly approve of this fee materials concept.

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Heck just wish I could go back to work but have been pensioned off due to health issues.

When I was working for Exel Logistics, formally British Road Services, BRS (Break Rests & Snacks) for short, subcontracted to John Menzies (Wholesale newspaper retailers) the only evening that you ever got off was Christmas Eve. No papers on Christmas Day, but for the rest of the year you get your daily paper and of course your magazines and all the other rubbish that newsagents shops try flogging to you. Start from about 2300hrs onwards and do a full 9 hours work (miracle if you ever did) but sure could rake in the money but was regulated by the dread spy in the cab, Tachographs, pain in the neck but if used correctly could be used to your own advantage.

Ian

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  • 2 months later...

I don't know if your still on the forum Duncan, but I used to work for the SRA over here and that officially stood for State Rail Authority or to the media as Sickness, Rorts and Absenteeism. Well I didn't have any sick days or absenteeism but yes I did rort the system as the system rorted me on a number of occasions. Like it was compulsory to belong the the union and if you had a problem to see your local delegate who would only discuss it with his work mates. If you then complained further up the chain they only told you to see him. With a railway management that didn't give a toss for the safety or it's employees is it any wonder that they rorted the system left right and centre and continue to do so to this day according to a friend who is still on the railways.

I now work for my local council and was surprised when I was riding in a lift at the council chambers and at one of the floors four young men got in all dressed in frilly pink outfits with fishnet stockings and high heel shoes. They explained that it was a fancy dress day for workers in head office. I looked a bit out of place in steel capped work boots, King Gee trousers and high visibility sloppy joe. I remarked to them that it was nice to know that whilst we're working outside in all weathers there are people in head office running around dressed like them.

Roy.

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